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washington post this morning, which broke the story last week, asserting that one strike in september in venezuela, it is being reported that officials in punk -- in congress and the pentagon said monday they are increasingly concerned that the trip administration intends to scapegoat the military officer who directed u.s. forces to kill two survivors of a targeted strike on suspected drug smugglers in latin america, as lawmakers made initial moves to investigate whether the attack constituted a war crime. the post reporting friday that pete hegseth gave a spoken order to kill the entire crew of the vessel thought to be ferrying their cods in the caribbean sea, the first of nearly 20 strikes directed by the administration since early september. when two survivors were detected, the military commander overseeing the operation directed another strike to comply with the order that no one be left alive. people with knowledge saying the trump administration set 11

people were killed. it as that karoline leavitt acknowledged monday that mr. hegseth authorized bradley to conduct the strikes on september 2. you can see the full press conference on our website and app. this is from yesterday. [video clip] >> the president said yesterday that secretary hegseth denied the reported second strike on an alleged drug boat on september 2 , the secretary said to the president that did not happen. to clarify, i wanted you to clear this up, and his social media post, secretary hegseth said u.s. operations in the area were lawful and said the story and media reports were fabricated. does the administration deny that the second strike happened, or did it happen and the administration denies that secretary hegseth gave the order? >> the latter is true.

i have a statement, president trump and secretary hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war. with respect to the strikes in question on september 2, secretary hegseth authors admiral bradley to conduct these strikes. admiral bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the united states of america was eliminated. i would add one more point to remind the american public why these lethal strikes are taking place, because this administration has designated these narco terrorists as foreign terrorist organizations. the president has a right to take them out at they are threatening the united states of america and if they are bringing illegal narcotics that are killing our citizens have a record rate, which was they are doing. host: more about the strikes and what the defense secretary said in and around washington

yesterday. and you can make your thoughts as far as your confidence in the republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. active and former military, (202) 748-8003. this says mr. hegseth, head of the september to attack, ordered a strike that would kill the people on the boat and destroyed the vessel and its purported cargo drugs. but mr. hegseth's directive did not specifically address what should happen if the first missile turned out to not fully accomplish those things. officials said that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast. it says admiral bradley ordered the initial missile strike and in several follow-up strikes

that killed the initial survivors and sank the disabled boat. it says mr. hegseth did not give orders to him. for those who are active and former military, steve in south carolina. steve, hello. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: good morning. i believe hegseth is totally out of mind and over his head. he is not competent or capable of being the secretary of defense. but like trump who appointed him, he will do everything he can to blame everybody else for what he, in my opinion, has done. host: when you say he is not competent, how did you arrive at that conclusion? caller: i believe the secretary of defense should have more, i

guess, people skills in order to do the job. he is head of the military. he is a fox guy. i believe he was a major in the army. that is not necessarily a qualification to be the secretary of defense. host: steve there in south carolina, that line for active or former military. give us your thoughts. (202) 748-8003. this is tim in kentucky, also former military. go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span. no, i do not have any trust whatsoever in pete hegseth. in military terms, in military parlors, he is a dirt bag. he has no honor at all. he is know what i would call an honorable person. host: why is that?

caller: well, it is just his past. you know. the drinking, the alcohol, all that. these decisions that he is making. i spent 20 years in the military , and if he was in when i was in , he would have been chaptered out so fast and made his head spin. now, there is a big difference between the national guard and active duty, i will say that. ok? host: ok. let's go to ed in west virginia, independent line. caller: this is pretty simple. president obama had an american citizen shot, and there was no

uproar. these two people that were supposedly ordered shot -- i don't know -- they aren't even american citizens. what is the big uproar, people? my goodness. host: what does that have to do with pete hegseth specifically? caller: the president can order someone to kill an american citizen, and pete hegseth gave an order, i guess, to kill someone on the boat. host: there is a listing of those strikes that have taken place over the last weeks and months, the story says the attacks have killed dozens so far, part of a broader pressure campaign on venezuela and its president. adding that the department of defense did not immediately respond to the axios request for

comment. they divided into categories the strikes with the boat headed to venezuela. this in august, u.s. sent warships, spy planes, fighter jets, and bombers to the waters of venezuela. first strike, strike one, the one in the news recently, saying it was a position strike against a drug vessel operated by designated narco terrorist organization on september 2, kicking off the president's campaign. then mr. trump posted a video of the attack saying it killed an alleged 11 members of a cartel based in venezuela. and this adding a friction point, saying it was the initial washington post reporting that the initial strike with the boat on fire but two survivors were clinging to the wreckage. there is more there when it comes to the listing of strikes ordered by the defense department and the broader campaign for narco terrorism in the caribbean. there is video, courtesy of the

secretary of war, his x title, about those strikes. let's go to bobby and florida, democrats line. confidence in pete hegseth? caller: yes, i have confidence in hegseth. but i am a democrat, and i think we have got them now. i think this is a clear step over the line of acceptable behavior, and we are going to play this out forever. we have got him. we have got to keep it up, keep the drum beat going. we have got them where we want them now. host: who is the them? when you have said we got them? he is gone. let's hear from louis in florida, republican line. caller: good morning. god bless you guys at c-span.

hope you had a happy holiday and all the way to christmas. when talking defense, you never heard anything from biden because they never did anything. this guy loves his country, served his country. every time a democrat comes up, boom, trump, trump, trump. it is so bad, when these guys are fighting for our country -- did you hear anything on the 20-year-old national guard girl? nothing. you hear nothing, they do not care. you got a lady in tennessee, hates the city, but she is running -- host: let's stick to the topic at hand on the defense secretary, your level of confidence. caller: he is gone, too. let's go to visit -- vincent in maryland, former military. caller: hegseth was exactly right in doing what he was doing. this is why. the fake news people, they made

a quote saying these were survivors, treating them as people. well, they were human beings, but they were terrorists. they were destroying, destroying. they were told to destroy everything on the boat. that was pre-targeted. even the professional military. they are not killing innocent people. they are killing terrorists that have killed our children, our women, bringing in fentanyl. they have killed american people. we are not going after good old regular people that got caught up. had they not carried out the order and killed these two terrorists, they would have lived for another day to try it again. these are terrorists, they do not give up. they are not people.

they are human beings, but they are not people, their terrorists. every military men out there knows this. thank you for reminding me. everybody, have a good day. host: critics of the defense secretary's actions, senator mark kelly, holding a press conference yesterday. he talked about his criticism of defense secretary pete hegseth and actions he has taken. [video clip] >> what seems to happen actually happened, i am really worried about our service members. i was talking about this from the beginning of this operation. the thing i am most concerned about is the very difficult situations that this secretary of defense is going to put service members into. and it is because this guy is so unqualified for the job. think about this, he runs around on a stage talking about the fallacy and warrior ethos and

killing people. we have the most competent, capable military this planet has ever seen, by far. that is not the message that needs to come from the secretary of defense. the message should be about what our mission is and accountability and the rule of law and training. and let me make sure you are equipped to do really hard jobs, let me give you all the tools you need to do something that often is an impossible mission. and instead, he runs around on a stage like he is a 12-year-old playing army, and it is ridiculous, it is embarrassing. i cannot imagine what our allies think when looking at that guy in this job, one of the most important jobs in our country.

in my view, after the president of the united states, it is the next most important job. host: when it comes to congress, the hill reporting that senator wicker and senator jack reed issued a statement vowing to conduct vigorous oversight on caribbean strikes after that report surface that defense secretary pete hegseth ordered the u.s. military to "kill everybody" a board that alleged drug vessel. the committee is aware of recent news reports and the department of defense's initial response regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the south, area of responsibility. the committee has directed inquiries into it. and then the intentioned words pete hegseth. that is they had line from a couple days ago. let's hear from tony in jersey, independent line.

caller: thank you for what you do. i think senator kelly was right in the fact that the american people do not know what the mission is. with everything going on and everything -- and those running the country, it could be that they are putting pressure using our military forces on the cartels to get a percentage of the proceeds. it is a 500 billion dollar a year business. 20% of that is a lot of money to ship to some secret crypto account. host: how does that deal with the defense secretary spence -- specifically though? caller: well, he is just taking orders from someone else, isn't he? if it is us against the rule of law, i think our senators and congressmen whoever is in charge of the intelligence committees that oversee these things should know all the facts. host: tony in new jersey, independent line. oscar is next, former military,

north carolina. caller: good morning, pedro. i just want to make a few remarks about pete hegseth. i think he is a hero. i actually do. i am 88 years old and spent 25 years in the army, from 1955, right out of high school, to 1980. when i first went to the army in 1955, it was the way it was supposed to be. you did what you were told. you did not quit. you would get smacked upside the head and get called every name in the world, and they were right to do it. it made a lot of men out of a lot of boys. and pete hegseth is trying to get the military back to that level again. so they will follow orders and do what they are told. and got rid of all this woke business. and as far as the high and mighty american folks goes, he

is killing innocent people, don't they realize what he is destroying in those boats? it had enough stuff on it to kill most of the united states. and harry truman did not have much regret by giving the order to drop two atomic bombs in japan and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people. so i think hegseth is fine, he is a hero. i hope he stays in there and does more of these same things. thank you. host: let's go to randy, democrats line, in michigan. caller: good morning. i do not have no faith in our government right now because the president of the united states pardoned the biggest drug dealer in honduras president, who dealt more drugs than anybody in central america, just pardoned him.

also pardoned silk road, the biggest drug dealer that sold drugs during the cryptocurrency scam, funneling money right into trump. you have thousands of accidents from alcohol and from drugs, all drugs. we treated 29,000 drunks, 4000 drug addicts. which is more dangerous? 29,000 drunks or 4125 drug addicts? that is why you have no faith in our government, because it is a big scam. telling everybody else you can't sell no drugs. we sell alcohol, the most dangerous drug of any drug. that is why i have no faith in our government. host: ok, here is the piece from the wall street journal this morning, shooting the wounded on drug boats? that is the editorial, saying, our view is that the commander-in-chief deserves

legal latitude as part of his constitutional war powers, but that doesn't extend to shooting the wounded in violation of u.s. and international rules of war. the pentagon's own law of war manual prohibits hostilities on the basis that there shall be no survivors. such excesses will also turn the public against allowing a president the power he may someday need to defend the country's interests quickly. the hegseth story has additional currency because the administration isn't explaining its aims in the caribbean with either voters or congress. senators roger wicker and jack reed of the senate armed services committee have been writing to the pentagon asking for more details but seem to get mostly stonewalled. this says it is all the more reason for congress to learn the truth about the hegseth story. some are ready to do so. it goes on from there. you can find it online, lead editorial from the wall street journal. give your thoughts on the logo -- level of confidence in the defense secretary.

rick in ohio, republican line. caller: hello. about these boats, they ain't blowing enough of them up. you know, you can -- america, just look around your neighborhoods, just look around. look around you. these democrat heads have put you people in a position where you cannot think for yourself anymore. get your heads out of your ass. host: what do you think specifically about the defense secretary? caller: this is america, he is doing what is to be done to protect america. host: ok. in pennsylvania, let's hear from brenda, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. i do not have any faith in pete hegseth, and here is why. you remember when he called all

the admirals and generals back to washington to give them a dressing down, everybody in that room had more education, more training, more military experience then pete hegseth had. every one of those uniformed men and women. it so that tells me that picking hegseth for secretary of defense, that made hegseth the d.e.i. hire, because everybody in that room had far more experience and far more qualification then hegseth did. so that made hegseth a d.e.i. hire. second, has anybody even considered the possibility that these motorized rowboats are just decoys? i saw a documentary on el chapo, fuentes, and the felix brothers, a documentary from the 1980's when these guys were head honcho

drug cartels. 40 years ago, they were using unmanned submersibles, miniature submarines, to transport tons of drugs into the ports of florida and california. and they showed the coast guard and the dea agents capturing these unmanned submersibles and showing the tons of drugs that were loaded on there. and you want me to believe that, 40 years later, multibillion dollar drug cartels are sending motorized rowboats loaded with drugs? host: ok. tracy is next in new york, independent line. caller: hello, i have three points to make. first, hegseth is totally unqualified. he was a tv personality, and now he is in control of our total armed forces. second, there is no proof that these boats are full of drug runners.

and there is no proof they are coming to the united states. third, congress has too real in the power of this president. they need to put a check on his power. like the caller before said, he already pardoned two drug dealers, yet he is going on and on about venezuela running drugs to the united states. host: it was on fox news yesterday that republican senator tom cotton was defending the administration's ultimatum to venezuela leader nicolas maduro, the overall venezuela policy. [video clip] >> maduro is the illegitimate leader of venezuela. he lost the election last he once again and has not been recognized that the legitimate leader of venezuela for years. the first term and the biden administration and now president trump again. there is a long history of this in latin america, once the

strongman does leave the country, i would say maduro needs to go for this country to be safe from the drug cartels that have infiltrated this illegitimate government and they are continuing to try to run drugs into our country. fortunately, not nearly as much anymore since the trump administration is taking that threat seriously. but as long as nicolas maduro's is in power in venezuela, you will see the risk of violence in latin america and the drugs i have heard so much about from arkansas sheriffs and police chiefs that are threatening our communities and killing our kids. nicolas maduro needs to go, that is what president trump made clear. i'm sure the cuban intelligence services in venezuela and russian generals are urging him to stay if he knows what is good for him, like so many other latin american strongmen over the years. i think it is time for him to go. host: to offer a little bit of the defense secretary's bio, according to the war department

website, hegseth sworn in on january 25 of this year, 29th secretary of defense, commissioned as an end of entry officer in the u.s. army national guard after graduating from princeton university in 2003. he participated in active duty deployments during his time of service, including guantanamo bay, iraq, and afghanistan. adding that military awards include two bronze star metals, accommodation medals, and it goes on from there. that is the website you can find the bio for pete hegseth. let's hear from elroy, former military, from mellor -- from maryland. caller: hello. i have absolutely no confidence in hegseth at all. they are blowing up these ships, and so far they had one person they caught and let him go home, then two other people that he killed where he could have

asked, where the getting the drugs from, where are they going, any type of interrogation, they just gave up that opportunity. he is an absolute clown. i do not know what is wrong with these american people that are calling in and going along with this ignorance. that is all it is. maduro needs to go, ain't no doubt about that, but we're going about it the wrong way. trump wants to drag these people into a war, and that is what i think about that situation. host: democrats line, this is katrina in georgia. caller: hello, good morning. yes, i definitely agree with a lot of the callers who are able to think for themselves and put two and two together and understand exactly what trump is trying to do. they are trying to start a war. he wants to start his war so he can try and stay in office. in addition, if they believe that these people are

trafficking drugs an importer, or whatever the case might be, they have the opportunity to stop those boats, inspect, and arrest these individuals and find out exactly where they are taking it and where it is coming from. if you capture the individual and let them go, what was -- there is something fishy about the whole entire process. who is to say what is on those boats? we cannot take their word for anything, because trump and this administration lie so much. we cannot believe anything they say, anything they present, because i do not present anything with evidence. if they are trying to save american people, have pharmaceutical companies pushing drugs everyday. host: ok, katrina and georgia there. line for democrats. if you want to continue your thoughts on pete hegseth and his tenure, here are the lines.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. former and active military, (202) 748-8003. you can use that same line to text us. as always, you can post on social media sites. let's go to phyllis in colorado, republican line. caller: good morning. i would just like to point out that the people i in charge of this project do not know what is legal and not legal. doesn't that make it incompetent in the first place? that is all i have to say. thank you. host: this is the washington post editorial this morning on pete hegseth and recent news. headline, pete hegseth's caribbean lawlessness. saying the relevant -- revelation that these killings were rotten from the start, it

seems to be conjuring to complacency of several congressional republicans who previously but their tongues about the attacks. the leaders of the senate and arms services committees are promising inquiries. this also says, what danger that the shipwrecked men pose? without a second strike, they probably would have drowned. they posed no immediate threat. such flagrantly immoral behavior helps explain why britain, america's closest ally, suspended intelligence sharing for the boat strikes. the u.s. has limited resources and faces threats in many theaters, how many missiles as the pentagon using for target practice on speedboats they could be easily stopped by the coast guard? that is more from the editorial from the washington post this morning. let's go to john, former military, connecticut. caller: good morning, sir.

yeah, i have faith in pete hegseth, absolutely. i think he has done a fine job so far. one thing i have issues with is one lady called, a democrat, saying those are motorized rowboats. first of all, i have done a lot of fishing. you do not put 1000 horsepower on a boat and run open like that in the middle of the ocean. there was no fishing rods seen or any fishing equipment on these boats. so i do not understand where these people get off saying they are motorized rowboats. but i do have faith in our government. i have faith in president trump. we have got to get this administration a chance, which i feel that you guys do not. you read from the new york times , washington post, all leftist magazines. host: we read from a lot of sources and let people talk, like yourself. you say you have confidence in pete hegseth. specifically, why?

caller: he served in our military and comes from a strong background. he is a true american, a dye height american. look at the increase -- he is a diehard american. look at the increase in our military people, people who have decided to join the admin's -- the military since this administration and pete hegseth. he is bringing the military together. we need strong military because china wants to destroy us. and we need strong military men and women. host: ok. let's hear from mark joining us from new jersey, democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. of course, i do not have any faith in pete hegseth. i mean, the guy was a fox news host. he had never run a large organization with millions of. he doesn't know -- that trump

can control everything that is happening. he does not understand the law. it is illegal to just shoot boats in somebody's jurisdiction , a sovereign nation. i am ashamed to be an american when we are just killing people randomly. host: kevin up next in connecticut, independent line. caller: how are you doing? yeah, that john from connecticut, he was no military. all of these officers, they go to school at west point and are taught the law. ok. hegseth, he stripped officers, and the six congressmen that made the video that you do not have to do unlawful orders, now everything makes sense. like chris murphy said on cnn,

all the officers in the military better understand no hegseth does not have your back. if you do any unlawful orders, you're going to be accountable for it. that is everywhere. social security administration. everybody better understand who will be accountable when trump is out of the office. and they better ask for pardons. host: one of those criticisms on the senate floor yesterday delivered by senate democratic leader chuck schumer, talking about the administration's actions in venezuela, specifically military strikes. [video clip] >> what on earth is donald trump planning in venezuela? is donald trump getting america into another war? is he seeking regime change for majuro? will he put u.s. troops in harm's way? nobody knows. all we have is a bunch of contradictory statements from

trump. donald trump seems to be planning a war totally in secret, without congressional authorization, without any transparency, without any explanation for what his goals even are. all it takes is one mistake, one miscalculation, one lapse in judgment from either side, and suddenly our troops could find themselves in an armed conflict with venezuela. lives could be lost. american security could suffer. so i want to be very, very clear , if donald trump proceeds with this plan to conduct strikes against venezuela, senator kaine , paul, and i will immediately file war powers resolution to force congressional action to block the use of troops in venezuela. the power to declare war lies in the hands of congress, and we intend to exert that authority should the need arise.

host: reporting this morning that it was the president hosting a meeting last evening at the oval office with top national security officials to discuss venezuela as the administration ramps up pressure on the country and majuro, the white house also facing pressure from lawmakers to provide details on a second strike targeting and alleged drug boat in the caribbean. cabinet and security team members join the meeting at 5:00 yesterday, including secretary of defense pete hegseth, chairman of the joint chief dan kane, secretary of state marco rubio, and the white house chief of staff susan wiles, and deputy chief of staff stephen miller. that meeting wrapped up monday night, no details on what was discussed. to new jersey, republican line, confidence level and pete hegseth as defense secretary? caller: i have two points to make. number one, i am a marine corps

veteran and i love pete hegseth and everything he is doing. my first point is this, as far as chuck schumer goes, he is talking about trump being a warmonger? these are the people who send billions of dollars to ukraine and got literally tens of thousands of people killed on both sides in a winless war against russia. they also, by the way, never resolved to join nato years ago when they should have. my second point is, as far as these ships getting bombed, first of all, they are small boats carrying hundreds of pounds of fenton will -- fentanyl. one of my daughters lost a boyfriend to fentanyl years ago because of all the crap biden let come into this country. pete hegseth has every right to defend the constitution of the united states. we do not want fentanyl dragged into this country anymore. he is doing the best job he can

and is supporting the constitution by destroying terrorists from their point of origin, bringing drugs into this country. these democrats are off their rocker, that is it. i am all for the military, with having men and women serving, not 56 genders. host: democrats line in new york, this is anderson. caller: yes, good morning, sir. i have absolutely no confidence in pete hegseth. number one, he came into the office and he fired all the jagged officers. those are the people that would inform pete hegseth what is right and what is wrong. a lot of those boats that are leaving venezuela and going into the southern caribbean are refugees looking for better life outside of venezuela. so when donald trump and pete hegseth say that they are blowing up boats with narco

terrorists, a lot of those people on those boats are men, women, and children fleeing venezuela looking for a better life. yes, there are narco terrorists amongst them. but this is the job of the u.s. coast guard to detain these people and bring them to justice. you do not go into anybody's territory and blow up boats. this is the united states of america. we are better than this. i have no confidence in pete hegseth and no confidence in donald trump. that is the story of the day. host: george is up next, former member of the military. this is george from maryland. caller: i could not agree more with the last color. he put it all very well -- i cannot agree more with the last caller. he pitted very well. we do not know who is on these

boats. they need that space for more drugs. logically, there killing people who we do not know if they are innocent or not, we do not know if they are being trafficked or not. apart from that, pete hegseth, i think he has been promoted way beyond his capabilities. i have been to the doctor but that does not mean i am qualified to be a heart surgeon. do you want me operating on your heart? no, absolutely not. the other part to this is i think this will all clear soon, soon enough. when i was in the military, it was driven into me, you do not follow illegal orders. that is full stop. you do not follow illegal orders or you can be prosecuted yourself. killing people who are wounded in battle or a narco trafficker

boat, even if they are narco trafficker's, that is an illegal act. ok? world war ii, the germans in the foxholes, holding up their hands surrendering, you do not shoot them. you take them prisoner. that is not what the united states is about. apparently, it is now. but i am hoping that this fog will lift and we will come back to our sanity soon. host: michael is next in maryland, republican line. caller: thank you for having me. i think this is kind of like -- first, with pete hegseth, i have as much confidence in him as i do any other secretary of defense. they all kind of get in there and do the same thing, follow the same path. right now with the narco terrorist business in venezuela, they just labeled them as that to engineer consent with the american people. they want to make everybody believe that these people are

bad, labeled and must narco terrorists, taking over oil reserves, replace majuro. it is like iraq 2.0. it is what they tried to do in the past with someone nobody remembers. trump's first term, juan guaido, they claimed he won the election even though it was refuted by everybody in the country. it was insane. they voted again. host: it sounds like you do not have confidence in pete hegseth, actually? caller: no, i don't. i have as much confidence in him as i do any other secretary of defense, because this is what they do. they get in there and get corrupted. they are working for the swamp. they are eventually just going to do this with another country. what country after this? host: ok. that is michael in maryland. one of the people still

expressing confidence as of sunday in his defense secretary, president trump himself on air force one talking about the alleged kill order and his confidence on pete hegseth. [video clip] >> i do not know anything about it. he said he did not say that, and i believe him. he said he did not do it, never said it. >> would you be ok with that if he did? >> he said he did not do it, so i do not have to make that decision. >> if there were a second strike that killed people -- >> number one, i do not know that it happened, and pete said he did not want them -- he did not even know what people were talking about. so we will look into it. but i would not have wanted that, a second strike. the first strike was very lethal, it was fine. if there were two people left, but pete said that did not happen. i have great confidence.

i will find out about it. but pete said he did not order the death of those two. >> do you have concerns about how those boat strikes have been carried out at all? >> very little because you can see the boats, can see there are drugs in the boats. each boat is responsible for killing 25,000 americans. and they are doing an amazing job. host: that was from sunday. george is in colorado on our independent line. hello. caller: good morning, c-span. good morning, america. the world is on fire. i have listened to what you have to say, and you have the red hats and trim crypto and all the stuff he is selling on fox, the nazi station. i am a veteran, 79-83, german soldiers also loved hitler

because he gave them high salaries in 1938. i want the epstein files now. this is a distraction, people. host: let's stick to pete hegseth exactly, what are your issues with him? caller: pete hegseth from fox news, what has he got, brother? i would say lock him up. just like trump wanted to lock up hillary clinton. donald trump is a draft dodger. host: ok. we will go to john in north carolina, democrats line. caller: good morning. listen, there is a saying that says, give me control of one's money, i care not who makes the lord. this is how donald trump is

operating. since his first day in office. all this stuff about pete hegseth, he is a greatly unqualified man in position. donald trump, they got rid of all the qualified people in the government so he could put in these stooges that are just doing whatever they will. from pete hegseth to the department of education, department of health. all these people in the trump administration are greatly unqualified. as far as pete hegseth, my confidence in him as defense secretary, i have absolutely no confidence in him. he is going to get us in a war, but that is what donald trump wants. like the previous caller said, if we go to work, we cannot have elections, and that is what donald trump wants. come on, man. host: to mark in virginia,

former member of the military. caller: good morning. good morning, c-span. i served in the u.s. army. i am very pleased with pete hegseth. i am not a mega person, i am independent. i do agree with the name change. i served in the military. i am a minority. i am pleased he raising the standards back. as far as people in venezuela and the boats, i do not know why we cannot -- [inaudible] here is my understanding, we have a declaration of war against drugs, multiple presidents have signed it.

i am not familiar with each of the laws, but this is war and what war looks like. i do not agree with the u.n. and the u.n. doctrine. i am not certain we voted to adhere to the doctor and as far as war and whatnot, but we most certainly need to leave that doctrine. we need to leave that doctrine. i think the press and people are framing this wrong. i think the change in the consciousness of our country from being globalist and feminist to returning to a nationalist, centrist where we are not overly masculine and not overly feminine. host: ok. that is mark in virginia. when it comes to the secretary of war himself, a couple postings from his x account,

november 28, right after thanksgiving. saying, as usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland. as we have said from the beginning, these highly effective strikes are specific -- it goes on from there. in recent days, pete hegseth posted on his personal account a mockup of franklin, the turtle, cover. this is franklin targets narco terrorists. that is the cover. that putting out the modified cover prompted a response from the children's book manufacturer saying the publisher of the series franklin, the turtle, hit out at unauthorized depictions of its main character at the defense secretary posted the mock cover of franklin shooting at drug traffickers. he shared that image sunday of a children's book to franklin

targets narco terrorists, showing the turtle dressed in military gear. then it says the post was a reference to the trump scent -- the trump administration's deadly strikes in the caribbean. franklin, the turtle, as a beloved canadian icon that inspired generations of children that stands for inclusivity. that is the publisher in a statement on x. to maxine in maryland, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. i have a question. i am trying to figure out, how does pete hegseth know who is on the boat? who gave him the orders to do that? i just do not understand it. they are going to just shoot everything that comes up? my thing is, how did he know that the drug traffickers were

in the water? thank you. host: david is next in north carolina, republican line. caller: i agree 100% with our secretary. you have these people coming in here that biden let in here and they are killing our people and kids. now they fuss with trump about these boats crossing and the drones. so what do the democrats want to see? below boats up? i say blow them up to pieces. this is the democrat party, every one of you people -- only thing i can say about this, democrats and the hypocrites is identical, same. just take care of our american

people, don't let them die, democrats. host: massachusetts up next, independent line. this is linda. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think pete hegseth is doing the best that he can, and we have to trust our elected officials and hold them accountable. i have a bigger question. if there were 25,000 people that could have died from the drugs on that boat, what is it doing to the sea life? host: mike joins us from north carolina, the line for those formerly in the military. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. good morning, america. i back our current secretary of war, but to clear the air a little bit better, maybe if they would capture a few of these boats, bring some evidence for the american people and prove

that these are, in fact, drug boats. i believe they are, but just blowing them out of the water like they are is a little barbaric. i think it might go over a little bit better if they would be captured and brought to trial and the evidence brought forth to the american people and they can make a decision on their own. host: albert is on the republican line, joining us from maryland. caller: hello. everybody is worried about these boats. in my opinion, i think someone is watching these boats being loaded. we don't know but somebody knows . if you think there are refugees on these boats, refugees don't get on super high-powered

speedboats. and they shouldn't be coming here. but you know. that is all i got to say. host: the associated press offers discussions with legal experts about this boat strike and the law behind it. the associated press story says, it does not matter whether the u.s. is an armed conflict with drug cartels is the trump administration asserts. such a fatal attack, the second straight, violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict, according to experts. it is a former air force lawyer saying i cannot imagine anyone, no matter what the circumstance, believing it is appropriate to kill people who are clinging to a boat in water. that is clearly unlawful. it goes on to say. it says that the white house is confirming that a second strike was conducted against that vessel accused of trafficking drugs off the coast of venezuela, and they insisted was

done in self-defense and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. there more there if you are interested in more on the legal background of what is going on in the caribbean. next call from michigan, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. as far as i am concerned, donald trump is donald trump, and he is the d.e.i. and all of this is just a smokescreen as far as i am concerned, what donald trump is doing. everybody was about to get down to the bottom of the fact of him being in that organization, whatever with epstein. people have not forgotten about epstein and donald trump. donald trump was in that situation with him and they was doing all of this stuff with those women, the reason why marjorie had to go away because she was getting too close to the

fact that donald trump was right there with the young ladies and that he was doing this sex trafficking with. host: first of all, that is an allegation you're making. and what does it have to do with pete hegseth specifically? caller: it just goes to show, donald trump himself is a d.e.i., and so is hegseth. they are not qualified to do the job they are doing. to tell you the truth, the united states is the laughing stock of the whole world. for one thing, they got people unqualified for the first time running this country and it does not make any sense. and everybody knows this. people know it, even the people talking about what hegseth is doing is right, they know this is a lie. it is all a lie. trump is doing you can continue watching this on c-span.org. back now to the house where they're gaveling. in